By Nathaniel Estopace / Special to the BusinessMirror
TAGDON, Barcelona—Everybody’s getting down on Wednesday.
Known for a friendly dancing contest called Pantomina, this town’s millennial students seek to use that one of seven performing arts to champion wellness. They hope to bag that formal recognition on September 30 by capturing the top award at the regional wellness dance competition in Albay, Bicol.
They’ve been practicing every day in the afternoon until 5:30 p.m., the end of the students’ last class, according to Eden E. Robles.
Robles is the trainer of the Barcelona National Comprehensive High School (BNCHS) wellness dance performers, about 50, aged 15 and 16 and mostly sons and daughters of farmers.
The students have been rehearsing their piece for the 2015 Wellness Campus Regional Showdown since winning the division competition at Gubat National High School in Gubat municipality on September 11.
Robles told the BusinessMirror this dance contest is unique since it aims to raise awareness on good nutrition and importance of physical fitness. “It [also] aims to develop wellness mind-set and lifestyle among students through habit formation.”
The wellness dance is encouraged every day after the flag-raising ceremony, Robles said.
Their cash prize of P20,000 for winning the the division competition went into expenses for rehearsals.
The BNCHS group will compete with 12 other division champions from across the southern Philippine province of Bicol in the dance showdown to be held at Ibalon Centrum for Recreation in Legazpi City, about a two-hour drive from here.
Ponciano F. Aberin, a retired physician who specialized in public health and noncommunicable disease and current president of Rotary Club of Cubao-Kamias, said dancing is a “very enjoyable way to stay fit.”
“Dancing is good regardless of age,” he said. “It is best accompanied by healthy diet; eating vegetables, fruits and fish.”
The BNCHS alumni Class of 1992 expressed support for the school’s wellness dance performers that will represent Sorsogon in the regional competition.
“We are proud of them,” Airen F. Samson, BNCHS Alumni Class of 1992 treasurer, said. “It’s a chance for our alma mater to make a name through them. We wish them luck.”
The 2015 Wellness Campus Regional Showdown is a collaboration between the Department of Education and Nestle Philippines Inc., through the Greatfil Team Inc.
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Nathaniel Estopace teaches physical education at the Barcelona National Comprehensive High School. He is a cousin of The Millennials page editor Dennis D. Estopace.
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